Collapsible toy building



Ian. 1925- 1,522,034

* M. s. SHOTTLAND COLLAPS IBLE TOY BUILDING Filed Oct. 7, 1922 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1925.

TAEE

IVIAXIME S. SHO'TTLAND, 075 NEW? YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO SCOTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COLLAPSIBLE TOY BUILDING.

Application filed October 7, 1922. Serial No. 592,930.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MAXIME S. SHOTT- na ve, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Collapsible Toy Building, of which'the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in toy buildings, and the like, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide a plurality of elements so constructed and arranged that they may be united to form toy buildings of different sizes and having a variety of architectural designs. ()ther objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will beiin part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and application of principles, constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated a preferred form of embodiment of my invention:

Figure l is a view in perspective, showing one form of toy building constructed in accordance with my invention, a side of a part of the building beingbroken away better'to illustrate the construction.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective View showing the'manner in which certain parts are united to form one of the building elements.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through Figure 3, assuming the parts of said latter figures to be united as shown.

Figure 5 is a view in elevation of a portion of another of the building elements, showing the flap. bent upwardly and outwardly to illustrate the construction the dotted line indicating theposition of the flap when the same is in normal position.

Figure 6 is an elevational view showing the manner in which two portions of the building elements, illustrated in Fig. 5, are united to form a complete building element.

Figure 7 is a view in elevation and vertical section of another of the building elements.

Figure 8 is a similar view of another of the building elements.

Figure 9 is a similar view of still another of the building elements; and Figure 10 is a similar; view of a connectmg element. I r

in the a companying drawings, similarre erence characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views thereof.

Before proceeding to describe the construction of the variouselements which enter into the construction of'the'building, it may here be noted that in accordancewith' this embodiment of my invention, there are five differently formed elements which enter into the construction of the building, These elements in the following description Ish-all term respectively, side elements, front elements, gable elements,roof elements and connecting elements. i w it will be understood, of course, that in the construction of a toy building any number of these elements may be employed, and the elements are intended to be provided in sets, each set containing a sufficient number of elements to construct toy buildings of various sizes and of different architectural design, "suitable directions or pictorial illustrations accompanying the sets, when marketed to teach the purchaser the manner in which the various sizes or designs of building may be constructed through the use of some or all of the elements constituting a particular set.

Referring now to the drawing, and particularly to Figures 3 and 4, these figures illustrate sheets of metal, such as aluminum, tin, zinc, or other metallic substance, designated 1 and 2 respectively, each of which has its opposite edge portions'bent over to form the flanges 3 l, and 5-6, providing the spaces 7-8, and 9-10. These flat metallic pieces or strips 1 and 2 are then united by inserting the flange 4% in the spaces 9 and 10, and by inserting the flanges 5 and 6 in the spaces 7 and 8. In other words, each of the flanges of each strip fits in the spaces provided between the body of the strip" and the inner face of the flange on the'opposite strip, the whole forming a substantially rectangular structure having a slot upon each'of its four sides, each slot being of a length substantially equal to the length of each edge portion of the strip formed by uniting the two parts as above described.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, illus- Cir trating what I have termed the gable elements, this element comprises two folded strips of metal fastened together in such a way'that a slot will be provided upon the three sides of the triangular structure comprising said gable element. Referring now to one of these parts, the. same comprises, as illustrated in Fig. 5, a substantially rectangularly formed strip of metal folded upon itself to form a triangle, comprising the parts 11 and 12, one of the sides 13 of the rectangular strip having a substantially triangularly shaped 'fiap 14. The flap 1 1 when in normal position occupies the position illustrated by the dotted line in Fig. 5.

It will be noted in this construction that the edge of this part of the gable elementis provided with a slot formed between the parts 11 and 12, and that the bending over of the flap 14 as shown by the dotted lines closes the slot formed by the parts 11 and 12 upon the opposite leg of the triangularly shaped part. The part itself is designated generally by the reference numeral 16.

The reference numeral 17 illustrates a part of the gable element which is constructs ed similarly to the part 16, except that the flap 18 thereof is formed in a position opposite from the flap 14; of the part 16, so that the parts 16 and 17 may be united by inserting the flap 18 formed in the part 17 in the slot 15 formed in the part 16,-the flap 14 of the part 16 being inserted in the slot 19 of the part 17. Thus it will be seen that the triangularly formed gable element similar to the side element is provided with slotted edge portions upon all of its three sides.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, which illustrate what I have heretofore termed as front elements, these parts are preferably formed of rectangularly shaped strips of metal, each of which is provided upon opposite sides with the side flanges 20 and 21 formed upon its opposite edges, said flanges having their end portion preferably beveled off, as at 22, so that they may be more readily inserted into any of the slots formed in the edge portions.

One of the front element-s I have, for convenience, designated 23 and the other 23. These front elements may have perforated or cut-out portions to simulate doors or windows, as illustrated at 24 and 25 respectively, or if desired, doors and windows may be simulated by painting or stamping upon the metal, it being understood that either of the front elements 23 or 23 may be similarly constructed, or decorated.

Referring now to Fig. 9 of the drawing, which illustrates a roof element, the same is constructed similarly to the front element 23*, except that a bevel portion 26 is provided, said bevel portion being at a greater angle to the face of the element than is provided in the front elements to permit that edge to conform to the angularity of the slot provided in the upstanding sides or legs of the triangularly formed gable element. The roof elementis indicated by the reference numeral 27.

Referring now to Fig. 10 of the drawings, there is shown in this figure merely 3. rectangularly formed strip of metal which is adapted to form a connecting element be tween the adjacent parts of the toy building. For instance, this element may be inserted in the slots of adjacent elements, such as between a side element and a gable element to hold those parts together, or two adjacent edges of the side elements.

Having thus described the construction of the various elements constituting my invention, the manner of using the same is well illustrated in Fig. 1, in which figures it will be seen that the various elements may be united to form buildings of difi'erent sizes and of various architectural design. For instance this figure shows a building 28 provided with a gabled roof 29, with a Winged portion 30 provided with a flat roof 31, the parts being united by inserting the various flanges into the slots provided in the side and gable elements above described. In this figure it will be noted that the connecting element 82 of Fig. 10 is utilized to attach the gable element to the side element. If for instance it is desired to construct a building having a greater depth, two or more side elements may be joined together by a connecting element.

It will accordingly be seen that I have provided a device well adapted to attain all the objects and aims above set forth in an exceedingly simple manner. While I have shown and described the various elements entering into the construction of the toy building to be formed of metal, it will be obvious that other materials, such for instance as cardboard, papier mach, or fibre, may be employed. The various elements may be suitably decorated to simulate for instance flap boards, shingles, or bricks, so that the exterior appearance of buildings of various characters may be simulated. It will also be seen that the various elements may be so connected or associated as to form toy buildings of different sizes of a variety of architectural forms, thereby providing a toy which is not only amusing to children, but a toy by the use of which will be exceedingly instructive.

The elements constituting the invention are formed of cheap material, inexpensive to manufacture, and can be sold at a reasonable price.

As many changes could be made in this construction without departing from the scope of the following claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Having this described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy building comprising separable elements, a gable element formed of two substantially rectangular pieces each folded upon itself to form a triangular body, and each of said pieces having a triangular flap on one side folded upon the said body and inserted between the folded portions forming the said triangular body of the other piece.

2. In a toy building comprising separable elements, a gable element formed of two substantially rectangular pieces each folded upon itself to form a triangular body, and each of said pieces having a triangular flap on one side thereof folded upon the said body and inserted between the folded portions forming the said triangular body of the other piece, and roof and side wall elements having projecting portions constructed for insertion between the edges of the folded portions of the pieces forming the said triangular gable element at the inclined sides and horizontal base of the said element. 7

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

MAXIME S. S'HOTTLAND. Witnesses:

EMMA WEINBERG, CHARLES H. WILSON. 

